11. Lecsyony Tsëbteby: Rcaza Yseidya Dizhsa “I Want to Learn Zapotec”

This lesson begins with discussion of verb definitions (section §11.1) and question word questions (section §11.2). Irregular perfective and irrealis stems of base-changing verbs are covered in sections §11.3 and §11.4. Section §11.5 presents animal pronouns, which are also used to refer to children and young people. Section §11.6 explains several types of sentences with rcaz “wants”. Sentences with cuan subject phrases are covered in section §11.7, and section §11.8 reviews how verbs are listed in the Rata Ra Dizh.

Ra Dizh

bca [bca’ah] crow

bal [bàall] / bald [bàalld] how many

bistied [bistiied] dress

blac [bla’ac] how much money

bzeiny [bzèiny] / bzëiny [bzêiny] deer

cotony [cotoony] shirt; blouse

Chiecw [Chie’cw] Chico, Francisco

dolr [do’lr] dollar

fald [fa’alld] skirt

gal rguily dizh [gahll rguìi’lly dìi’zh] word search

gasolyen [gasolye’nn] gas, gasoline

guez [guehehz] cigarette

laëm [làa’-ëhmm] he, she, it, him, her (animal)

larëm [làa’rëhmm] they, them (animal)

Lia Desy [Lia De’sy] Modesta

many [ma’any] animal

myes [mye’es] mass (in a Roman Catholic church)

na [nah] (used at the end of many question word questions)

par gac buny dibertier [pahr ga’c bùunny dibertiier] so that people can have fun (just for fun)

pes [pe’s] peso

rgub [rgùùu’b] 1. sucks; 2. smokes (cigarettes, tobacco, a pipe); 3. uses a lot of (fuel) (of a vehicle) § perf. bdub; irr. cub [cu’ùu’b]

rguez [rguèe’ez] 1. hugs; 2. carries (someone or something) in his (or her) arms § perf. bdez; irr. quez

rguiby [rguìi’by] washes § perf. bdiby; irr. quiby

rguieb [rguìeb] 1. sews; 2. sews (something) § perf. bdieb; irr. quieb

rguily [rguìi’lly] / [rguìi’illy] looks for § perf. bdily; irr. quily

rguiny [rguìi’iny] 1. borrows; 2. asks for the hand of (a girl) in marriage (in a betrothal negotiation) § perf. bdiny; irr. quiny

rguix [rguìi’x] lays (a long object) down, puts (a long object) down § perf. bdix; irr. quix

rguixicy [rguixi’ihcy] nods off (as when falling asleep), § perf. bdixicy; irr. quixicy [quixi’ihcy]

rguizh [rgui’ihzh] 1. pays (a person; a bill; an amount); pays back, repays (a person; an amount); 2. pays (someone) (an amount); 3. pays for: especially, pays for (a mass) § perf. bdizh; irr. quizh [quiizh]

rresieb [rresiieb] bill (for a service); receipt

xa [x:a] how

xa mod [x:a mo’od] how; in what way

xi ni [xi ni’ih] why

Xiëru Zalo Ra Dizh

1. In sentences like

Cagubi guez.

“He is smoking a cigarette.”

there is no teiby, even though the English sentence has a singular indefinite object. Rgub guez “smokes cigarettes; smokes a cigarette” is an expression that doesn’t need to be marked as having an indefinite object.

2. Bistied and fald are used primarily to refer to modern city-style clothing; there are other words for traditional Zapotec women’s clothing, as you’ll learn later. Bistied is also used for the typical style of dresses worn by younger village women.

§ 11.1. Understanding verb definitions

The definitions of the verbs in the Ra Dizh section at the beginning of this lesson tell you a lot about how these new verbs are used in sentences.

 

As you already know, just as in English and other languages, many Zapotec verbs have two or more different meanings or can be used in two or more different sentence patterns. When these meanings or uses are quite different, each one has a separate number within the definition of the verb in the vocabulary.

 

The information in definitions like the following can help you to understand what subjects and objects can be used with that verb.

rguix “lays (a long object) down, puts (a long object) down”

rgub “uses a lot of (fuel) (of a vehicle)”

Within the definition of a verb, an item in parentheses after the verb of the definition lets you know what are potential objects for that verb. For example, the object of rguix is something “long” (relative to its width), such as a stick, a pencil, or even a person:

Caguix mna bdo.

“The woman is laying down the baby.”

An item following “of” in parentheses within the definition of a verb shows what the subject of the verb may be. The definition of rgub above contains both object and subject information, telling you that this verb can be used in sentences like

Uas rgub carr gasolyen.

“The car uses a lot of gasoline.”

Reading a definition carefully will help you see how many objects it can be used with. For example, the following definitions tell that rguizh can be used with either one object (which could be either human or non-human) or with two objects:

rguizh 1. pays (a person; a bill; an amount); pays back, repays (a person; an amount); 2. pays (someone) (an amount)

The following sentences illustrate all these possibilities:

Mes rguizh Bed.

“The teacher pays Pedro.”

Mes rguizh gai dolr.

“The teacher pays five dollars.”

Mes rguizh Bed gai dolr.

“The teacher pays Pedro five dollars.”

In addition, the definition shows that rguizh can be used to mean “repay” or “pay back” as well as “pay”.

 

A verb’s definition also explains cultural aspects of the verb’s use. Consider the following additional definition of rguizh or one definition of rguiny:

rguizh pays for: especially, pays for (a mass)

rguiny asks for the hand of (a girl) in marriage (in a betrothal negotiation)

Most Zapotecs are Roman Catholics, but many villages have no regular parish priest, so the priest from another town must be paid to come and say mass for a wedding, baptism, or other celebration. Many old customs are still followed, even in larger pueblos like Tlacolula. Traditionally, a young man’s parents pay a formal visit to the parents of the girl he would like to marry in order to ask for her hand.

 

Here’s another important thing about interpreting definitions. A definition like the following —

rguez carries (something or someone) in his (or her) arms

— tells you that the subject carries something in his (or her) arms. When you use a verb like rguez with a different subject, the translation changes, because you need to refer to the arms of that subject:

Cagueza ra liebr.

“I am carrying books in my arms.”

Rguezu becw.

“You carry the dog in your arms.”

Caguez ra mna bdo.

“The women are carrying babies in their arms.”

Tarea Teiby xte Lecsyony Tsëbteby.

Translate the following sentences into Zapotec.

a. She hugs him every day.

b. Does Chico smoke a pipe?

c. I am nodding off.

d. Are you guys paying the bill?

e. She is sewing those skirts.

f. The bus really uses a lot of gas.

g. Are you (form.) looking for the chickens?

h. They are borrowing a car.

i. Every day Modesta washes the shirts.

j. We pay for the mass.


Fot Teiby xte Lecsyony Tsëbteby. The church in Tlacolula de Matamoros. Many people from San Lucas go to Tlacolula during the week, especially on Sunday, when there is an outdoor market that draws salespeople, customers, and tourists from all over the Valley. People from San Lucas who want to attend mass usually go to this church during their Sunday visit.

§11.2. More about question word questions

As you know, question word questions begin with a question word like tu “who”, xi “what”, and guc “when”. Unlike a-yac questions that can be answered by a “yes” or yac “no”, question word questions do not include the final question marker e.

 

Here are some additional Valley Zapotec question words:

bal [bàall]

“how many”

blac [bla’ac]

“how much money”

xa [x:a]

“how”

xa mod [x:a mo’od]

“how”

xi ni [xi ni’ih]

“why”

Bal “how many” is used before a noun, as in

Bal bxuaz rgub guet?

“How many priests smoke?”, “How many priests smoke cigarettes?”

Bal guet bdeidy Lia Tyen becw?

“How many tortillas did Cristina give to the dog?”

Bal plus the following noun form a phrase (comparable to tyop guet “two tortillas” or tap bxuaz “four priests”). You can’t use bal by itself without a following noun.

 

Blac means “how much money” — you don’t need to use the word muly with this question word:

Blac rguizhëng liu?

“How much money does he pay you?”, “How much does he pay you?”

As the second translation of this question shows, “money” may not always be used in the translation of a blac question.

 

Speakers use both xa and xa mod to mean “how”:

Xa bdeidyëng?, Xa mod bdeidyëng?

“How did he cross?”

As with all question words, xa, xa mod, or a bal phrase must come at the beginning of the sentence. In English, we sometimes use questions like He crossed how? or Cristina gave the dog how many tortillas?, with the question word somewhere else in the sentence, but question word questions of this type are not possible in Valley Zapotec.

 

Na “now” is often used at the end of question word questions. You can translate it as “now”, but this translation will not mean too much in English. Use this word to make your questions sound more natural, as in

Tu bdeidy guet becw na?

“Who gave the dog the tortilla (now)?”

Bal bxuaz rgub guet na?

“How many priests smoke (now)?”

This na doesn’t refer directly to the present time (rather, it probably refers to the speaker’s present interest in the answer to the question). Thus, you can use it even when the event referred to in the question took place a long time ago.


Fot Tyop xte Lecsyony Tsëbteby. The church in San Lucas Quiaviní. San Lucas has no regular parish priest, and services are held here only on certain special occasions.

 

Since the question word always comes at the beginning of the sentence, a tu or xi question with a reversible verb can sometimes be translated in two ways, just like some sentences with focused noun phrases:

Tu btaz mniny?

“Who hit the boy?”, “Who did the boy hit?”

Xi bguad banua na?

“What did the scorpion sting (now)?”, “What stung the scorpion (now)?”

If the noun following the verb in a question like this makes sense as either the subject or the object, then the question word can be interpreted as either the subject or the object too. This reversibility only works if the word after the verb is a noun, however, not if it is a pronoun — can you figure out why? If not, looking at the following questions may help you:

Tu btazu?

“Who did you hit?”

Tu btaz liu?

“Who hit you?”

These questions are not reversible!

 

If the question word question is negative, queity comes after the question word:

Tu queity bzhunydi na?

“Who didn’t run (now)?”

Tarea Tyop xte Lecsyony Tsëbteby.

Part Teiby. Translate the following sentences into Zapotec.

a. Who is sweeping?

b. What did Cayetano give you?

c. When will you (form. pl.) arrive in Oaxaca?

d. Who did Modesta hit?

e. Who did you give the book to?

f. How did they scare her?

g. When does Ernesto play the clarinet?

h. Why didn’t Elena hit them?

i. Who does the woman remember?

j. Why are you guys jumping?

k. Who is teaching the girls Zapotec?

l. Why don’t you speak Spanish well?

m. Who hugged them?

n. How much money did you pay the doctor?

o. Why does she smoke?

Part Tyop. Three of the Zapotec questions you just wrote have another English translation (because they contain reversible verbs with noun subjects and objects). What are these additional meanings?

§11.3. Verbs with irregular perfective stems

Here are some sentences using the new verbs from Ra Dizh in the perfective:

Bdezi mniny.

“He hugged the child.”

Bdiby Chiecw plad.

“Chico washed dishes.”

Bdiebrab ra bistied.

“They sewed the dresses.”

Bdixicy doctor.

“The doctor nodded off.”

Bdizha Lia Glory gai dolr.

“I paid Gloria five dollars.”

Bdubën guez.

“We smoked cigarettes.”

Each of the new vocabulary verbs has a base beginning with g (or gu, the spelling of g before the vowels e, ë, or i). The progressive stems of these verbs, as you’d expect, begin with cag or cagu. The perfective stems of these verbs are surprising, however. They begin with the regular perfective prefix b-, but there is no g after this prefix. Instead, these verbs have perfective stems begin with bd. Compare the following habitual-perfective patterns:

rguez

bdez

rguiby

bdiby

rguieb

bdieb

rguixicy

bdixicy

rguizh

bdizh

rgub

bdub

In each case, the g or gu before the vowel or diphthong of the habitual stem is replaced by d in the perfective stem. The new bd perfective verbs work just like other verbs you have learned in terms of their pronunciation. The vowel patterns of the new perfective verbs are just like those of the habitual verbs.

 

Normally, in Zapotec, the perfective of a verb whose base begins with a consonant is formed by replacing the r on the habitual stem with a b, with the base staying the same, as in the following examples (and for all the verbs you have learned up to this point):

rdeidy

bdeidy

rzhuny

bzhuny

rguad

bguad

The verbs you’ve just learned, however, are irregular, and do not follow this pattern. While they use r– in the habitual and b– in the perfective, their base begins with g (or gu) in the habitual (and the progressive) but with d in the perfective. This does not follow the normal Zapotec pattern, so we can identify these rg / bd verbs as one group of irregular Zapotec verbs. Here’s a diagram of how these verbs work:

Building an Irregular bd Perfective Stem from an rg Habitual Stem

prefix-

base

habitual r- gub “smokes”
perfective b- dub “smoked”

In fact, though, some types of irregularity are more common than others. The rg / bd pattern is very common: probably the majority of Zapotec verbs whose habitual stem starts with rg or rgu have perfectives beginning with bd. (We can compare this to some facts about English. The regular pattern for past tense marking in English is to add –ed to the end of a verb. Other changes, such as that from ring to rang or sing to sang, are irregular. However, for verbs ending with ing, like these two, the change to ang in the past tense is actually more common than adding ed!)

Tarea Chon xte Lecsyony Tsëbteby.

Part Teiby. Change each of the sentences you wrote in Tarea Teiby into a sentence that talks about the past, using the perfective stem of the verb. Practice reading your sentences out loud and translate each one into English.

Part Tyop. Now, write question word questions that could be answered by the sentences below. Try using several different question words. Translate them. Practice the new mini-dialogues you’ve written with another student.

Example. Bdiby Lia Len Plad. Elena washes the dishes.”

Answer  Tu bdiby plad? “Who washed the dishes?”

or Xi bdiby Lia Len? “What did Elena wash?”

a. Bdez Lia Zhuan zhyap.

b. Bdixicy Mazh.

c. Bdiebën ra cotony.

d. Bdubri guez.

e. Bdiny Leony teiby lapy rata zhi.

f. Fald re bdibyi.

g. Bdizhëb myes.

§11.4. Verbs with irregular irrealis stems

The verbs with irregular bd perfectives that you’ve just learned also have unexpected irrealis forms, as you can see in the following sentences:

Quilyën sede cuan fot.

“We are going to look for the C.D. and the photograph.”

Quiby Bed plad.

“Pedro will wash dishes.”

Cub mes guez.

“The teacher will smoke a cigarette.”

Quixicya.

“I will nod off.”

These irrealis verbs are irregular, too. Most verbs whose bases begin with g (though not all) do not use the regular irrealis prefix y-, but have irrealis stems that begin with c or qu. (As you know, these letters represent the same Zapotec sound — the sound of English k.)

 

If the base of a verb like this (after the habitual prefix r-) starts with gue, gui, or guë, the irrealis stem will start with que, qui, or quë. If the base of a verb like this starts with gu plus a consonant, ga, or go, the irrealis stem will start with cu, ca, or co. This follows the regular rule you learned for using c and qu, g and gu in Lecsyony Tyop: before the vowels a, o, and u, we write c (for the sound of English k) and g (for the sound of English g); before the vowels i, e, and ë, we write qu and gu.

 

Irrealis verbs beginning with c and qu sometimes have vowel changes, just as we have seen with ordinary irrealis verbs beginning with y-: thus, for example, the irrealis of “pay”, quizh, is pronounced with a PP vowel pattern [quiizh], even though the habitual rguizh has a CB pattern [rgui’ihzh].

 

As you can see, these base-changing verbs don’t work the same in the irrealis as they do in the perfective, because what happens is that a form of the irrealis prefix combines with the habitual base of the verb to produce an irrealis stem in which you can’t easily separate a prefix from the base.

Tarea Tap xte Lecsyony Tsëbteby.

Part Teiby. Translate the following sentences into Zapotec. Practice reading the Zapotec sentences out loud.

a. Would you (form.) be so kind as to please look for the picture?

b. Tomorrow I will wash the van.

c. Who will hug the children?

d. The priest will put the pipe down.

e. Tomorrow we will look for (edible) grasshoppers.

f. How will the baby wash the clothes?

Part Tyop. For each of the following questions about the future, write an appropriate Zapotec response using a “yes”, creating a short dialogue. You may have to change the pronoun in the answer, as in the example. If a person’s name is used in the question, replace it with a pronoun in the response, as in the example. Translate your dialogue into English. Then, practice the Zapotec dialogue with another student.

Example: Quizhyuad Gyeily tsë pes e? “Are you (form. pl.) going to pay Miguel ten pesos?” 

Answer: A, quizhyën laëng tsë pes. Yes, we will pay him ten pesos.”

a. Quinyu Lia Petr e?

b. Quily Jwany cuan Leony ra many e?

c. Quixicy ra bxuaz e?

d. Quizhu myes e?

e. Quieb Lia Da teiby bistied e?

§11.5. Animal pronouns

Valley Zapotec has special pronouns used to refer to animals. Here are some examples:

Caduaxëm.

“It is barking.”

Larëm bdyanrëm.

They got hungry.”

Ytazu larëm e?

“Are you going to hit them?”

Cadinal bag laëm.

“The cow is chasing it.”

The “it” and “them” in these sentences refer to animals, so we call the pronouns in these sentences (abbreviated as an.). The bound animal pronouns are singular ëm [ëhmm] and plural rëm [rëhmm], and the independent animal pronouns are singular laëm [làa’-ëhmm] and plural larëm [làa’rëhmm]. The bound pronouns are used for subjects, and the independent pronouns are used for objects and for focused subjects. Like the proximate, distal, and respectful pronouns you learned earlier, these new pronouns are gender neutral.

 

Valley Zapotec animal pronouns are most commonly used to refer to young, small, or cute animals. Speakers are less likely to use them to refer to large, mature animals — for these animals, speakers would be more likely to use proximate or distal pronouns. As you learned in Lecsyony Gaz and Lecsyony Ga, the proximate and distal pronouns are used mainly to refer to adults (people who are social equals of the speaker or who the speaker doesn’t care about) and inanimate objects, but they can also be used to refer to larger animals, or to any animal whose location relative to the speaker seems important.

 

Valley Zapotec animal pronouns are also used to refer to children.

Mnazëm guet.

“He grabbed the tortilla.”, “She grabbed the tortilla.”

Becw ychiby laëm.

The dog will scare him.”, “The dog will scare her.”

Bnyityrëm.

“They got lost.”

Laëm mnabëm nyis.

She asked for water.”

In these sentences, the speaker is using the animal pronouns ëm, -rëm, laëm, and larëm to refer to children. While proximate and distal pronouns are sometimes used to refer to children, it is most common to refer to children using animal pronouns. (See how your teacher feels about who can be referred to with an animal pronoun, and listen to conversations to observe how speakers use these pronouns. Some speakers use animal pronouns to refer to people as old as teenagers — or even older people — but many people will probably feel this sounds somewhat insulting.)

 

If you listen to the word mnabëm, you’ll hear the normal change from independent [mnààa’b] to combination [mnàa’b]. Most verb stems do not change their pronunciation (other than the change to the combination form) before the animal pronoun. However, a regular spelling change occurs when you add –ëm to a verb stem that ends in c when the respectful pronoun. Because the pronoun ëm begins with ë, a c at the end of a preceding verb stem is written as qu before this pronoun:

A ryaquëm.

“It is (already) better.”

Tarea Gai xte Lecsyony Tsëbteby.

The following sentences contain noun phrases that refers to animals and children. Change each sentence so that you use a singular or plural animal pronoun to refer to these noun phrases. An example has been done for you. Practice reading the original and new sentences out loud. Then translate both the original and new sentences into English.

Example: Bzhiby zhyet.

Answer: Bzyibyëm. “The cat got scared.” “It got scared.”

a. Bdeidya liebr mniny.

b. Ra becw rduax.

c. Bguad banua mna e?

d. Canab zhyap bdua.

e. Bcwany bdo!

§11.6. Sentences with rcaz “wants”

As you know, the verb rcaz “wants” can be used with an object:

Rcaza teiby becw.

“I want a dog.”

Rcaz Lia Len liebr.

“Elena wants the book.”

Xi rcazu?

“What do you want?”

Rcaz can also be used in a sentence with another verb:

Rcaz Lia Len yseidy doctor Dizhsa.

“Elena wants the doctor to learn Zapotec.”

Rcazëng cub buny guez.

“He wants the person to smoke a cigarette.”

Rcaza quilyu muly.

“I want you to look for the money.”

The second verb in such sentences is always irrealis.

 

The three sentences above show the “want (someone) to” pattern. This pattern is used to talk about one person wanting another to do something, when the second (irrealis) verb has a different subject from “want”. Use this pattern:

“WANTS SOMEONE TO” SENTENCE PATTERN: subject (1) is different from subject (2)
rcaz subject (1) irrealis verb subject (2) (rest of sentence)
Rcaz Lia Len yseidy doctor Dizhsa.
Rcaz -ëng cub buny guez.
Rcaz -a quily -u muly.

Tarea Xop xte Lecsyony Tsëbteby.

Translate the following sentences into Zapotec.

a. Chico wants the woman to carry the animal in her arms.

b. Do you (form.) want them to cross there?

c. I want them (an.) to bark.

d. Soledad wants him to give you (form. pl.) the money.

e. The teacher wants the students to speak Zapotec well.

The same pattern can be used in a “wants to” sentence, when the subject of the irrealis verb is the same as the subject of “want”, as in sentences like

Rcaz Jwany ytainy Jwany lat.

“Juan wants to crush the can.”

Rcazu ychyezhyu e?

“Do you want to sneeze?”

Rcazi quilyi caj.

“She wants to look for the box.”

The pattern here is just the same as in the “want (someone) to” pattern:

“WANTS TO” SENTENCE PATTERN 1:  subject (1) is the same as subject (2)
rcaz subject (1) irrealis verb subject (2) (rest of sentence)
Rcaz Jwany ytainy Jwany lat.
Rcaz -u ychyezhy -u e?
Rcaz -i quily -i caj.

What may seem a little unexpected about sentences using this “wants to” pattern is that in English we say Juan wants to crush the can without mentioning Juan’s name twice, and we say Do you want to sneeze? without two yous. But in Zapotec the pattern for “wants to” sentences is just the same as the “want (someone) to” pattern.

Tarea Gaz xte Lecsyony Tsëbteby.

Translate the following sentences into Zapotec using the “wants to” sentence pattern 1.

a. Do you guys want to wash the shirts?

b. She wants to sew this skirt.

c. The woman wants to look for the city person.

d. The priest wants to borrow the books.

e. The students want to nod off.

When the subject of a “wants to” sentence is a noun phrase, you can use a second “wants to” pattern that will remind you more of English. Here are some examples:

Rcaz Jwany ytainy lat.

“Juan wants to crush the can.”

Rcaz mna ychyezhy.

“The woman wants to sneeze.”

Rcaz ra mes ydeidy ra liebr ra mniny.

“The teachers want to give the books to the boys.”

Here is a diagram of the second “wants to” pattern:

“WANTS TO” SENTENCE PATTERN 2: used only with noun phrase subjects
rcaz noun subject irrealis verb (rest of sentence)
Rcaz Jwany ytainy lat.
Rcaz mna ychyezhy.
Rcaz ra mes ydeidy ra liebr ra mniny.

In this pattern, there is no subject following the irrealis verb. This pattern can be used only with noun phrase subjects. It is never used with pronoun subjects: when the subject of “wants” is a pronoun, you must always repeat that pronoun after the irrealis verb, as in “wants to” sentence pattern 1.

 

The subject of rcaz can be focused:

Jwany rcaz ytainy lat.

Juan wants to crush the can.”

Laëng rcazëng cub buny guez.

He wants the person to smoke a cigarette.”

Tarea Xon xte Lecsyony Tsëbteby.

Part Teiby. Make new sentences from your answers for Tarea Gaz (c)-(e) by changing them to follow the “wants to” sentence pattern 2.

Example. Rcaz Jwany ytainy Jwany lat.

Answer. Rcaz Jwany ytainy lat.

Part Tyop. Make new sentences from your answers for Part Teiby by changing them so that they have focused subjects.

Example. Rcaz Jwany ytainy lat.

Answer. Jwany rcaz ytainy lat.

Part Chon. Make new sentences from your answers for Part Tyop, by changing the subject noun phrases to an appropriate pronoun. Keep in mind that this may require other changes in your sentences as well!

§11.7. Cuan subject phrases with pronouns

Here are some sentences with plural subjects that include pronouns and cuan “and”:

Naa cuan Lia Len rcazën quilyën becw.

“Me and Elena want to look for the dog.”

Lia Len cuan naa rcazën quilyën becw.

“Elena and I want to look for the dog.”

Mes cuan yu bdinyyuad liebr e?

“Did the teacher and you (form.) borrow the book?”

Liu cuan mniny bdyanad e?

“Did you and the boy get hungry?”

Each of these sentences has a subject referring to more than one individual (a plural subject, in other words) expressed with a phrase that includes cuan between two linked items, one of which is a pronoun. For example, the subject of the first sentence is naa cuan Lia Len “me and Elena”. (In English, you may have been taught that it’s more polite to start with the other person, and say Elena and I or Elena and me. This is not necessarily the case in Zapotec — either order is fine.)

 

Now, look at the forms of the verbs in the sentences. The first sentence includes the bound pronoun ën “we”, and the next two include ad and yuad pronouns. If you think about it, “Elena and I” corresponds to “we”, “you and the boy” corresponds to “you guys”, and so on. All this is summarized in the following table:

Table 11.1. Verbs used with different types of “and” subjects
If the cuan subject phrase contains… then the verb must include the bound pronoun…
naa “I” ën (for a “we” subject)
liu “you (informal)” -ad (for a “you guys” subject)
yu “you (formal)” yuad (for a “you (form. pl.)” subject)

Finally, notice the position of the “and” subjects in the examples at the beginning of this section. The “and” subject is at the beginning of the sentence. Unlike the usual case, where a subject before the verb has an emphatic (focused) meaning, an “and” subject almost always comes before the verb, especially when it contains a pronoun, like those in this section. It’s probably a good idea to put “and” subjects like these before the verb in the focus position in most sentences.

Tarea Ga xte Lecsyony Tsëbteby.

Practice saying sentences with “and” subjects by translating the following sentences into Zapotec.

a. Elena and I laid the babies down.

b. You and the boys will pay Señor Pedro back.

c. You (form.) and the teacher paid the bill.

d. The doctor and you (form.) will learn Zapotec.

e. The deer and you are running.

f. I and the girl poked the stick at the crow.

§11.8. Verbs in the Rata Ra Dizh

You have probably already used the vocabulary at the end of this book (the Rata Ra Dizh), so you may have noticed that the vocabulary contains a lot of information about verbs. Here are the entries for the verbs you have learned in this lesson:

bdez [bdèe’ez] perf. of rguez

bdiby [bdìi’by] perf. of rguiby

bdieb [bdìeb] perf. of rguieb

bdily [bdìi’lly] / [bdìi’illy] perf. of rguily

bdiny [bdìi’iny] perf. of rguiny “borrows”

bdix [bdìi’x] perf. of rguix

bdixicy [bdixi’ihcy] perf. of rguixicy

bdizh [bdi’ihzh] perf. of rguizh

bdub [bdùùu’b] perf. of rgub

cub [cùùu’b] irr. of rgub

quez [quèe’ez] irr. of rguez

quiby [quìi’by] irr. of rguiby

quieb [quìeb] irr. of rguieb

quily [quìi’lly] / [quìi’illy] irr. of rguily

quiny [quìi’iny] irr. of rguiny “borrows”

quix [quìi’x] irr. of rguix

quixicy [quixi’cy] irr. of rguixicy

quizh [quiizh] irr. of rguizh

rgub [rgùùu’b] 1. sucks; 2. smokes (cigarettes, tobacco, a pipe) § perf. bdub; irr. cub [cu’ùu’b]

rguez [rguèe’ez] 1. hugs; 2. carries (something or someone) in his or her arms § perf. bdez; irr. quez

rguiby [rguìi’by] washes § perf. bdiby; irr. quiby

rguieb [rguìeb] 1. sews; 2. sews (something) § perf. bdieb; irr. quieb

rguily [rguìi’lly] / [rguìi’illy] looks for § perf. bdily; irr. quily

rguiny [rguìi’iny] 1. borrows; 2. asks for the hand of (a girl) in marriage ( in a betrothal negotiations) § perf. bdiny; irr. quiny

rguix [rguìi’x] lays (a long object) down, puts (a long object) down § perf. bdix; irr. quix

rguixicy [rguixi’ihcy] nods the head, § perf. bdixicy; irr. quixicy [quixi’ihcy]

rguizh [rgui’ihzh] 1. pays (a person; a bill; an amount); pays back, repays (a person; an amount); 2. pays (someone) (an amount); 3. pays for: especially, pays for (a mass) § perf. bdizh; irr. quizh [quiizh]

The main entries for verbs in the end vocabulary (those that contain definitions and other information) are habitual stems. Main entries contain a listing of all irregular forms of these verbs, along with other information. Each of these irregular forms is also listed separately, with a to the main entry. Pronunciation is shown for every entry, and for any of the irregular forms that have a different vowel pattern from the main entry. The cross-reference entries usually do not include translations, although if there are two words in the Rata Ra Dizh that are spelled the same, their entries will always include translations. Remember that there is a list of abbreviations at the end of this book.

Tarea Tsë xte Lecsyony Tsëbteby.

Translate the following sentences into English. Some sentences may have more than one meaning!

a. Naa cuan Rony cubën guez.

b. Bal bistied bdiby ra mna?

c. Lia Zhuan bdizh Chiecw.

d. Cagueza bdo.

e. Rcazu quiby Bed ra plad e?

f. Blac quizh bxuaz doctor?

g. Uas bdub autobuas gasolyen.

h. Xi ni bdixicyrëng na?

i. Bdizha Lia Len.

j. Xa mod quixu bdo?

Prefixes and Endings

-ëm [ëhmm] he, she, it (animal bound pronoun)

-rëm [rëhmm] they (animal bound pronoun)

Abbreviations

an. animal

Comparative note. As you’ve learned, one of the areas of greatest grammatical variation among the Valley Zapotec languages is in pronoun usage. Speakers notice and comment on these differences, but they do not seriously impede communication in most cases. Not all languages use animal pronouns the same way they are used in this book. In fact, in most of these languages animal pronouns are used only to refer to animals. This helps explain the term “animal pronoun”, which may seem less appropriate for the variety of the language described here, in which animal pronouns can also be used for children.

The final version of this book will include a comparative table of the different pronouns used in several Valley Zapotec languages. If you know speakers of other varieties of Valley Zapotec, you will learn other pronoun systems.

Par gac buny dibertier! Find the following words in Zapotec in the Gal Rguily Dizh.

animal crow hugs pays back smokes
bill deer lays down peso washes
borrows dollar looks for sews
chicken dress mass shirt
cigarette gas nods skirt

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Cali Chiu: A Course in Valley Zapotec by Pamela Munro, Brook Danielle Lillehaugen, Felipe H. Lopez, Brynn Paul, and Lillian Leibovich is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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